Tag: buffer zone
Green up the garden, not the waterways – over-fertilization causes nutrient pollution
March 29, 2017With spring comes the greening of lawns and gardens — and, by extension, the greening of rivers, streams and other bodies of water. The first is a good thing. The second — well, that’s decidedly bad. As we finally dust off the winter doldrums and head outside to start gardening, it’s easy to…
A history of nitrogen pollution
July 22, 2013A University of Washington study of 36 lakes has found evidence of nitrogen from human activities in more than 75 percent of them. Some of the lakes, which range from the U.S. Rocky Mountains to northern Europe, are “thousands of miles from the nearest city, industrial area or farm.” And the pollution dates back to before the…
Polluted runoff has far-reaching consequences
December 22, 2011Over the past few months, we’ve written about buffer zones and source water protection in an attempt to outline the importance of keeping our water supply clean. A recent study by the University of Georgia, however, drives home the fact that the effects of polluted water reach far beyond local watersheds. Researchers there found that…
Next stop: The buffer zone
June 28, 2011When it comes to protecting our rivers and streams, there’s one option that’s easy to accomplish yet can work wonders: a buffer zone. What’s a buffer zone? It’s an area that catches, slows and filters water runoff before it enters a stream or river. It can remove chemicals, excess nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen…